Christie’s Tests China Waters With Shanghai Auction

Christie’s is slated to hold its first sale in China on Sept. 26, when the auction house will test mainland collectors’ appetite for artworks from the West.

The one-day evening sale in Shanghai will be a relatively modest affair, with a total estimated value of $16 million.

Among the 42 lots, which include wine, jewelry and contemporary Asian art, are paintings by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol, and a sculpture by Alexander Calder. The last time a work by Warhol was offered at auction by Christie’s in Hong Kong was in 2010, when one of the artist’s “Mao” works achieved more than $856,000.

Though Chinese collectors’ favorite auction categories have traditionally been art and antiques from their home country, Christie’s China managing director Cai Jinqing said that the auction house has begun to see “more interest among Chinese in Western post-impressionist and modern art.”

“Homme Assis” by Picasso, a painting from 1969, is estimated to fetch as much as $1 million. Warhol’s “Diamond Dust Shoes,” a silkscreen ink painting of high-heeled shoes sprinkled with diamond powder, is expected to realize as much as $800,000. Picasso and Warhol are the world’s top two artists in terms of global auction sales.

Calder’s “Black 2-2-6,” a hanging sculpture mobile with leaf-like black panels hanging off thin branches, has a high estimate of $1.6 million. Ms. Cai said that deep-pocketed Chinese collectors are beginning to look beyond paintings and into other art forms, including sculpture.

Contemporary Asian works that will go on the block include Zeng Fanzhi’s painting “Bicycle,” estimated to fetch as much as $1.5 million. The work, completed in 2005, depicts a man in a red coat, straddling a bicycle on an empty country road—a nod to China’s recent past.

Absent from the sale are Chinese ceramics, antiques and traditional ink paintings. As a foreign auction house, Christie’s is barred from trading in historical works and artifacts, even though those categories are the most popular among collectors at auctions in both mainland China and Hong Kong.

Christie’s in April became the first foreign auction house to receive a license to operate in the mainland on its own. Its rival, Sotheby’s, received its license last year as part of a joint-venture with Beijing company Gehua.

Christie’s decision to hold auctions in Shanghai also distinguishes it from its main local competitors, Poly Auction and China Guardian. Those two firms, which dominate the Chinese auction scene, hold most of their sales in Beijing, the capital.

“Slowly, Shanghai will become the center for art in China,” said Chinese-Indonesian collector Budi Tek, who spends most of his time in the city and plans to attend next week’s sale.

Mr. Tek is building one of two large private museums scheduled to open in Shanghai later this year, and described the arrival of a major auction house as part of the city’s cultural renaissance.

“Two or three years ago, nobody thought Shanghai could be a cultural center,” he said. “Now, even Christie’s is coming here.”

Shanghai still has some way to go before it rivals Beijing or Hong Kong as an auction hub. At Christie’s six-day Hong Kong sale in May, the auction house generated $418 million.

Nonetheless, Christie’s is pulling out all the stops for its first foray into the city. In addition to the public auction, it is courting publicity-shy collectors with five private selling exhibitions featuring jewelry, post-war abstract art, contemporary Chinese ink paintings, and artworks by Warhol, Picasso and Marc Chagall.

The exhibitions will be held alongside discussion forums and education seminars for three days, starting Wednesday.

Moreover, Christie’s French billionaire owner, François Pinault, will be making the trip to keep an eye on the action.

“It’s more than an auction,” said Ms. Cai. “We’re making it into a three-day art gala.”